The Syntax of Early English
Olga Fischer, University of Amsterdam
Willem Koopman, University of Amsterdam
Ans van Kemenade, University of Nijmegen
Wim van der Wurff, University of Leiden
This book is a guide to the development of English syntax between the
Old and Modern periods. Beginning with an overview of the main
features of early English syntax, it gives a unified account of the
significant grammatical changes that occurred during this period. Four
leading experts demonstrate how these changes can be explained in
terms of grammatical theory and the theory of language
acquisition. Drawing on a wealth of empirical data, the book covers a
wide range of topics including changes in word order, infinitival
constructions and grammaticalization processes.
Contents:
1. Language change and grammar change;
2. An outline of Old English syntax;
3. An outline of Middle English syntax;
4. The Verb Second constraint and its loss;
5. The loss of object-verb word order;
6. Verb-particles in Old and Middle English;
7. Changes in infinitival constructions;
8. The history of the 'easy to please' construction;
9. Grammaticalization and grammar change.
Cambridge Syntax Guides
2001/354 pp./23 figures/3 graphs/16 tables
55410-1/Hb/List: $69.95^LDisc.: $55.96
55626-0/Pb/List: $24.95^LDisc.: $19.96
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The Evolutionary Emergence of Language
Social Function and the Origins of Linguistic Form
Editors
Chris Knight, University of East London
Michael Studdert-Kennedy^, Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, CT
James R. Hurford, University of Edinburgh
The Evolutionary Emergence of Language covers the origins and early
evolution of language. Its main purpose is to synthesize current
thinking on this topic, particularly from a standpoint in theoretical
linguistics. It is suitable for students of human evolution,
evolutionary psychology, linguistic anthropology and general
linguistics. It is the outcome of a major international conference on
the evolution of language and includes contributions from many of the
best known figures in this field. Very few truly interdisciplinary
volumes on this topic have previously been published.
Contributors:
Chris Knight, Robbins Burling, Jason Noble, Jean-Louis Dessalles,
Camilla Power, Michael Studdert-Kennedy, Marilyn M. Vihman, Rory
A. DePaolis, Peter J. MacNeilage, Barbara L. Davis, Bart de Boer,
Daniel Livingstone, Colin Fyfe, James R. Hurford, David Lightfoot,
Andrew Carstairs-McCarthy, Derek Bickerton, Alison Wray, Simon Kirby,
Robert P. Worden, Frederick J. Newmeyer, Mark Pagel
Contents:
SECTION I: THE EVOLUTION OF COOPERATIVE COMMUNICATION;
1. Introduction: The evolution of cooperative communication Chris Knight;
2. Comprehension, production and conventionalization in the origins of
language Robbins Burling;
3. Co-operation, competition and the evolution of pre-linguistic communication
Jason Noble;
4. Language and hominid politics Jean-Louis Dessalles;
5. Secret language use at female initiation: Bounding gossiping communities
Camilla Power;
6. Play as precursor of phonology and syntax Chris Knight;
SECTION II: THE EMERGENCE OF PHONETIC STRUCTURE;
7. Introduction: The emergence of phonetic structure Michael Studdert-Kennedy;
8. The role of mimesis in infant language development: Evidence for phylogeny?
Marilyn M. Vihman and Rory A. DePaolis;
9. Evolution of speech: The relation between ontogeny and phylogeny
Peter J. MacNeilage and Barbara L. Davis;
10.Evolutionary implications of the particulate principle: Imitation and
the dissociation of phonetic form from semantic function
Michael Studdert-Kennedy;
11.Emergence of sound systems through self-organisation Bart de Boer;
12.Modelling language-physiology coevolution Daniel Livingstone and
Colin Fyfe;
SECTION III: THE EVOLUTION OF SYNTAX;
13.The emergence of syntax James R. Hurford;
14.The spandrels of the linguistic genotype David Lightfoot;
15.The distinction between sentences and noun phrases: An impediment to
language evolution? Andrew Carstairs-McCarthy;
16.How protolanguage became language Derek Bickerton;
17.Holistic utterances in protolanguage: The link from primates to humans
Alison Wray;
18.Syntax without natural selection: How compositionality emerges from
vocabulary in a population of learners Simon Kirby;
19.Social transmission favours linguistic generalization James R. Hurford;
20.Words, memes and language evolution Robert P. Worden;
21.On the reconstruction of "Proto-world" word order
Frederick J. Newmeyer;
EPILOGUE;
22. The history, rate and pattern of world linguistic evolution Mark Pagel
2000/392 pp./68 line diagrams/22 tables
78157-4/Hb/List: $74.95 Disc.: $59.96
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